Pan American Silver announces record 2012 production

Pan American Silver (TSX: T.PAA, Stock Forum) Tuesday said it produced a record 6.9 million ounces of silver during the fourth quarter of 2012, a 30% surge from Q4 2011, this according to a company news release.

For the full year 2012, Pan American produced a new annual record of 25.1 million silver ounces. Preliminary consolidated cash costs for the year were $12.03 per ounce of silver, net of by-product credits.

For 2013, the miner expects to produce 25 million to 26 million ounces of silver, while gold production is expected to climb to up to 34% higher than 2012 to between 140,000 and 150,000 ounces.

"We achieved our targets for silver production and cash costs during the fourth quarter and for the full year, and in the process we set new quarterly and annual production records for silver and gold. In large part this was the result of the acquisition and integration of the Dolores mine. However, we also saw both our La Colorada and San Vicente mines establish new annual silver production records. We are expecting 2013 to be even better, as we are forecasting increases in both our silver and gold production while our cash costs per ounce remain basically unchanged," said Pan American President and CEO Geoff Burns.